I can't see that happening since it was tested (a MOW with 102 guns was used for the intire games testing) The MOW could sink all sjips with 1 or 2 broadsides, if your playing with RTBL on then thats why and this is why the switch between RTBL and stock was put in, so those who liked the quicker battles could choose the stock settings and by default the game is set to use the stock settings. As in real life the higher your calibure the quicker you will sink a ship and i know it works because i play with RTBL on and was sailing the Couronne which has 64 guns, i had recently purchased and mounted 28Ibs cannons and a few game months later engeged in a battle between the English and the Dutch. The Dutch was had 4 Fleut's Of War while the English had a mix of ships that i can't remember the names of, anyway i sank 2 of those Fluet's Of War after about 10 or so broadsides of bomb shots each. If i can do that with RTB on then i'm sure with stock settings no one will have any problems sinking other ships. In fact this is the first i've heard of problems where sinking ships has been said, everyone will remember CMV3.1.5 with its problems for the naval battles, because i like the slower battles i can see who quick it takes to windal a ship down with stock ssettings on. a single braodside from a MOW using grapeshots can almost wipe the intire crew out of a MOW at close range of course. 1 or 2 braodsides from close range using knippleshots fired at the right moment can take 1 to 2 masts down and any 1st rate ship. A single broadside from a MOW at close range will certainly damage any ship if not sink them.
The idea of tall ships is for close battles, one reason for the amount of gun calibures been reduced was because the further away from your target the less damage you will deliver to that ship and the more shots you'll waste trying to damage those targets. This has again been changed in GOF so that no gun calibure can fire further than 1000 yards apart from the 92Ibs cannons which are for forts only and can't be purchased. Turning tactical setting on is not part of the mod, that is stock and what it effects has never been changed, the things that changes battles settings RTBL is a switch you can turn on or off before starting a new game. In fact i'm sure you can turn that on or off as you please with the reinit button because it reinits all the files the code is in fr it, the same with reload times. My advice is check in _Mods_On_Off and see if RTBL is set to 0 or 1, if its set to 1 then change it to 0 and save the changes. open options and use the reinit button to update the game, if you have a small calibure mounted ie, 4, 8, 12Ibs cannons then that will be why it takes so long in battles. A few things to take into account about the battles.
1. Calibure of gun mounted (this will make a huge difference and its clear to see with both stock or RTBL switched on)
2. Gun type mounted (cannons and culverines do have differences, cannons do higher damage but culverines have a larger hit radius, for pure damage cannons are the better choice because a 4Ibs culverine will not damage a ship as much as a 4Ibs cannon, this was how it was set in the stock game too)
3. Use of shot types (each shot type has its reasons, bombs are the best all round shot type as they will damage the hull, kill the crew and damage the sails but grapeshot is the best shot type to use to kill the crew, knipple shots are better at damaging the sails and round shot is for the hulls. Use the shot types for the right reasons and you will soon be sinking ships).
4. Gun range (just because you can hit a targte some 600 yards out doesn't mean it should be used to that advantage. The further away from your enemey the less damage you will do to the ship)
5. Skills (your skills are very important factor in battles, aim and target are the most important ones for the guns and if they are low you will hardly hit anything even at a close range, building these skills up will make huge differences as will getting all the gunnery perks. Having a officer with good gunnery skills will help but its still a good idea to build your own skills up).
A lot of work went into this and weeks of testing was down after it was finished, we know their are no problems here. Tactical will only change the way the game reads the wind, ie if it takes the wind speed and direction into account or not. With tactical on then it does take those into account and you will find yourself sailing very slowly when the wind is against you compared to how it would have been if you had choosen arcade where no matter which way you sailed you was never effected by the wind speed or the direction the wind was blowing in. In fact i've started thinking RTBL is a little to easy to sink ships, once you start getting those gun perks with RTBL on the game starts becoming less tactical because a few broadsides from grapeshots and your able to weaken the enemy ships crew enough to drastically reduce the chances of them boarding you which allows you to get closer to them and deliver the heavy blows that will see her visit Davy Jones.
:2up 
